Official: Manchester City sign Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves | OneFootball

Manchester City have today confirmed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Algerian international joins Pep Guardiola’s squad ahead of the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup. Ait-Nouri will be a part of Pep Guardiola’s squad for the tournament in the United States. As per SkySports, Rayan Ait-Nouri has signed a 5-year contract with Manchester City. Furthermore, Sam Lee and Jordan Campbell report for the Athletic that Manchester City have signed Rayan Ait-Nouri for a transfer fee of £33 million.

What will Rayan Ait-Nouri add to the Manchester City set-up?

First of all, Rayan Ait-Nouri is a quality Premier League-proven left-back. At 24 years of age, the Algerian international has his best football ahead of him. Ait-Nouri has spent the past five years at Wolverhampton Wanderers and has developed into a quality left-back. After growing as a player at Wolves, the time did feel right for the attacking left-back to move to a big club. He now has that move with his transfer to Manchester City confirmed.

The strengths of Rayan Ait-Nouri’s game are clearly evident when in possession. The Algerian international is an attacking full-back who is good when in possession. Ait-Nouri’s not blessed with lightning pace but he is a relatively quick player. That helps him get up and down the pitch well. He is an attacking weapon with his ability to play as an overlapping full-back. But looking at when he inverts into midfield from the left-back position that’s when his game shines. He can pick out a pass and has a good range of passing. Ait-Nouri is also a quality dribbler and he can beat a man with the ball at his feet.

The chart below gives a good indication of how many progressive passes Ait-Nouri plays and where they come from on the pitch. Predominantly, they come from out wide. But in the final third Ait-Nouri’s ability to pick out a pass in the final third does at times come from a central area of the pitch and that could be of great use to Manchester City’s play.

Defensively, Rayan Ait-Nouri can improve and he could add more goals and assists to his play.

Last season, Ait-Nouri scored 5 goals and added 7 assists in 41 appearances in all competitions for Wolverhampton Wanderers. But looking at the immense technical ability that the Algerian left-back possesses, the potential is there that he can improve on those numbers.

Defensively Rayan Ait-Nouri is a sound defender. He isn’t by any means an elite defender at this stage of his career. He can dive into tackles, but not recklessly. Ait-Nouri is a quick player who can read the game well and that helps him as a defender. With those attributes, he should adapt quickly to life in a Pep Guardiola team. The signing of Rayan Ait-Nouri does give Manchester City a proper left-back which should see Josko Gvardiol shift to centre-back on a more regular basis.

Summary.

All told, Manchester City have signed a quality left-back in Rayan Ait-Nouri. Given the fact that he is Premier League proven the Algerian international should hit the ground running at Manchester City. He appears ready to make the next step in his career and the move to Pep Guardiola’s side appears to have come at the right time. Manchester City appear to have landed the left-back they desperately needed in Rayan Ait-Nouri and it will be interesting to see how he gets on as a Manchester City player.